Eric Adams administration convenes second Charter Revision Commission focused on land use

The Adams administration confirmed they are convening another charter revision commission to build on recent zoning reforms accomplished in the “City of Yes” for housing opportunity agenda. City & State first reported the impending commission on Wednesday. The commission could set up another conflict with the New York City Council as members prepare to roll out their own commission next year. 

Back in October, Politico New York reported that Hazel Dukes, a member of the mayor’s first Charter Revision Commission, confirmed discussions about mounting another commission.

Charter Revision Commissions are temporary panels convened by the mayor or the City Council tasked with updating the city’s governing document. Commissions hear from the public before crafting ballot proposals to pitch their amendments to voters.

On Thursday morning, the Adams administration officially announced the formation of the 14-member commission to rewrite the City Charter in 2025. Richard Buery Jr., Robin Hood CEO, was named chair of the new commission and Sharon Greenberger, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York, was named vice chair. Other members include Leila Bozorg, executive director of housing in the New York City Mayor’s Office, Rev. A.R. Bernard, United Way of New York City President Grace Bonilla, homelessness and housing advocate Shams DaBaron, Partnership for New York City President Kathryn Wylde and former state Sen. Diane Savino, now a City Hall aide. 

“Housing proposals and land use measures, and the negotiations that come with them, are complex and critical to ensuring our city remains affordable, which is why we’ve assembled this esteemed group of housing and affordability experts to explore how reforms of our city’s charter can tackle the crisis we are facing,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said of his decision to convene the commission in a statement.

This is the second time the mayor has convened a Charter Revision Commission in his first term. The first commission, convened in May, came up with five ballot proposals concerning sundry issues from the scope of Sanitation Department authority to calculating the cost of proposed City Council laws. Despite a campaign from the City Council to defeat them, voters OK’d four of the five proposals last month. 

The summertime panel was widely seen as a successful strategy to preemptively block a City Council initiative to expand their authority over mayoral appointments. Adams has denied that that was his intention.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has since taken steps to launch the council’s own Charter Revision Commission – which could potentially take up the issue of mayoral appointments, though the speaker hasn’t specified what the commission would focus on. While warring Charter Revision Commissions will likely lead to another race to get proposals on the ballot, the conflict between City Hall and the council this year prompted state legislators to propose a change in state law that would prevent one set of proposals from superseding another on the ballot. State Sen. Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Tony Simone hope to advance that bill in Albany next session.

The Adams administration’s move to form another charter revision commission would likely further escalate tensions between the mayor and the New York City Council. While the two governing bodies struck a compromise last month that ultimately got the Adams’ administration’s marquee housing plan across the finish line, the introduction of another charter revision commission – made as the City Council prepares to roll out its own – could re-escalate things.

“Mayor Adams’ Administration once again appears ready to politicize the Charter Revision Commission process … despite the Council opening its own commission up to the mayor,” council spokesperson Shirley Limongi said in a statement Wednesday night. “If announced, this only makes it more important for the state legislature to pass pending legislation that protects against mayors more interested in using Charter Revision Commissions to commit blatant smash-and-power grab robberies of our local democracy.”